One night a man came to a village asking if anyone could spare food. The villagers claimed they had nothing for him.
So the man filled a pot with water and dropped a stone in. He told the villagers he would make a magic soup using the stone, but it was missing a few things.
Eager to taste the soup, villagers began offering vegetables, spices and other ingredients. Eventually, the man removed the stone, which was not magic at all, and the village enjoyed the stew together.
To many, this is simply a fable. But for Kirk Boutte, co-founder of the nonprofit It Takes A Village BR, it is a way of life.
Since September 2015, It Takes A Village BR has set up under the North Boulevard overpass bridge near downtown every Sunday, providing food, clothing and assistance to those who are homeless or in need of a warm meal.
It Takes A Village BR serves more than 200 people every Sunday, relying solely on donations and volunteers. It has a rotating menu of hearty, well-balanced meals. Its team shops for ingredients and supplies every Saturday in preparation for the event. Bringing an entire kitchen setup with them, volunteers get to the area under the bridge at 9 a.m. They split up tasks—some cook and box up the meals, some set out tables and chairs, some organize piles of clothing and supplies, and others just talk and connect with the people they serve.
Tiffany Simpson, the group’s executive director, says many local groups have gotten involved, coming on Sundays to provide free haircuts, church sermons and even a yoga class. Often, she says, the most committed volunteers are those who have been or are still in need of a meal, or as the organization calls them, “villagers.”
The organization’s original cook was homeless throughout the first couple of months of the project.
“I started in December of 2015, so it had been going on for a couple of months, and I had no idea he was homeless,” Simpson says. “I helped him work on his resume because he had been out of the workforce for a long time but was working for us. He started working about a year and a half ago, and he now has his own apartment and he still comes every Sunday. I remember the first Sunday he had to miss. He probably called five of us in tears about not being able to be there, because it just meant so much to him.”
This, Simpson says, is what the organization is really about. It is more than the meals: It’s about the fellowship and trust the group has built. The meal is simply the vehicle for connecting with people, she says.
While it is difficult to determine exact figures, estimates from Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless show there are more than 350 people considered homeless living in Baton Rouge.
Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District, says he’s seen the number rise and fall throughout the years. The population last peaked in 2009, when it was estimated there were 1,118 people without homes living within the city.
The North Boulevard bridge that It Takes A Village BR serves under has become a spot where many of those people seek shelter. Tents and sleeping bags are often in plain sight next to the piers holding up the bridge. Simpson says the spot has drawn the homeless population because of nearby resources, including shelters, churches and the One Stop Homeless Services Center that Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless operates a block away.
But last December, city officials announced plans to fence off some sections under the bridge to store equipment for construction work on the Electric Depot development nearby. The equipment would displace most of the people living there.
That’s when the Mayor’s Office got involved to find a permanent solution. Mayor Sharon Weston Broome called for a coalition tasked with finding housing and to make sure relocation went as smoothly as possible.
It Takes A Village BR met weekly with the mayor’s staff and other advocates, acting as a voice for the villagers, and using the trust they built with them to help with relocation.
Rowdy Gaudet, assistant chief administrative officer for the Mayor’s Office, says while the development of Electric Depot initiated the push to find appropriate housing, it ultimately was a step in the right direction to help homeless people all over the city.
“Admittedly, it was tough to say that we are choosing this certain area,” Gaudet says. “But we had to focus in on a particular area in order to make an impact. The major challenge is that if you look at the entire problem, you kind of go numb to it because you don’t know who to help. So in some sense you have to set priorities.”
The city was eventually able to find funding to house 41 people who previously lived under the bridge. Additionally, the city offered services to help them find stable employment.
Downtown Development’s reach has expanded in recent years to include the area around the bridge, and Rhorer has been active in the relocation efforts. He says regardless of the intentions, finding housing for those living under the bridge was the right thing to do.
“You don’t ever want to get comfortable in thinking this is an acceptable way for somebody to live,” he says. “I am much more positive about dealing with this than I have been in such a long time after this initiative.”
Gaudet says the Mayor’s Office is looking to replicate the project’s success in other parts of the city.
That’s a promise Simpson hopes the city will keep.
“This was not just about moving people so that a fence could go up,” she says. “We absolutely intend to hold them to that commitment, because we want everyone off the streets, not just those who live underneath the bridge.”
Until that happens, It Takes A Village BR will be there, doing all it can to help. After the fence went up, they moved to a smaller section under the bridge and continue to provide food and services every Sunday for anyone who needs it, including many who have been housed but still rely on the meals.
As for the future of the organization, Boutte says he is ready to expand beyond its original mission.
“I hope that our organization becomes more infectious,” Boutte says. “That it grows beyond Sunday, and people pick up that we can make a difference just by providing the little things.”
And just like the vegetables and spices for the stone soup, it’s the little things that ultimately bring an entire community together.
HELP OUT
Find the organization at ittakesavillagebr.org or through its Facebook page. Get information on how to volunteer or donate items by emailing [email protected].
This article was originally published in the September 2018 issue of 225 Magazine.
